The present invention relates to a device for attachment to an archery bow. More particularly, the invention is directed to a simple yet highly effective, unitary combination arrow rest and arrow shaft guide which supports and guides the shaft of an arrow during its propulsion from the bow.
Arrow rests and related devices of the prior art have taken many and varied physical forms and configurations. The devices themselves have been fabricated of many different types of materials including plastics, spring bands, natural and artificial feathers and feather-like materials, leather, as well as natural and synthetic fabrics and bristles. The devices have been ordinarily secured in the window zone of the bow handle and have served as a support for the arrow shaft to enhance the accuracy with which the latter is shot from the bow. Among devices utilized as means for absorbing side thrust or laterial thrust of the arrow shaft as it is propelled from the bow string are collapsible plungers which may be adjusted for laterial positioning with respect to the sidewall of the bow itself. In other arrangements a substantially flat or planar panel may be affixed to the side of the bow handle or lateral abutment of the arrow shaft thereagainst. The arrow rest itself has been the subject of extensive research and developmental work and has, accordingly, developed into a series of various and diverse preferred configurations, each having its own "following" in the archery art. A simple yet highly effective combination arrow rest and side support is described in Saunders U.S. Pat. No. 4,380,226 and the entire disclosure of that reference is hereby specifically incorporated herein by reference to the extent it is not inconsistent herewith. For the most part, the prior art devices have been unduly complex and have failed to provide that degree of satisfaction which one might be inclined to expect of the apparatus involved. Still other devices have actually proven quite ineffective for their intended uses, having the effect of exaggerating the deflection and of impairing overall accuracy. Many of the arrow rests and supports that have been introduced into the field fail adequately to provide the necessary protection and shielding for the arrow vane or fluting, with the result that further deviation from true and accurate flight occurs. In general, the increase in complexity of some of the devices is totally unrelated to and has not resulted in improved accuracy.
It is, therefore, a principal aim of the present invention to provide a relatively simple yet most effective combination arrow rest and lateral support assembly which effectively obviates many of the above-described objectional characteristics, features, and disadvantages of prior art devices and which has found widespread acceptance both for target use and for hunting.